By, With, & for the People in Berlin, Europe, & the World

Foun­ded in 2017 in Cologne by a circle of young act­iv­ists, edu­cat­ors, artists, and the­or­ists, the SPH now acts between Ber­lin, Athens, Bud­apest, and Lis­bon. We inspire, train, and sup­port begin­ners, exper­i­enced organ­izers, and front­line com­munity lead­ers who dare to uphold a future of rights, demo­cracy, and solid­ar­ity by, with, and for the people. Many of us were born into work­ing-class and/or migrant fam­il­ies – exper­i­ences and real­it­ies that shaped our com­mit­ment to dig­nity, equal­ity, and justice. As pop­u­lar edu­cat­ors, crit­ic­al psy­cho­lo­gists, com­munity organ­izers, cul­tur­al prac­ti­tion­ers, and polit­ic­al souls, we work hand in hand with social move­ments, civil soci­ety organ­isa­tions, cul­tur­al insti­tu­tions, trade uni­ons, work­ers’ coun­cils, youth asso­ci­ations, and migrant com­munit­ies, as well as youth, work­er, and com­munity lead­ers to fight against author­it­ari­an oppres­sion, cap­it­al­ist exploit­a­tion, and polit­ic­al repression.

Community Storytelling, Political Emotions, & Cultural Organizing

At the SPH, we cul­tiv­ate polit­ic­al ten­der­ness and fierce­ness in com­munit­ies, organ­isa­tions, and move­ments through a pas­sion­ate prac­tice of pro­gress­ive com­munity organ­iz­ing, edu­ca­tion, and arts. Our com­munity storytelling ses­sions, polit­ic­al emo­tions work­shops, and cul­tur­al organ­iz­ing labs guide people in over­com­ing the cur­rent psy­cho­pol­it­ic­al crisis and its social, eco­nom­ic, and ideo­lo­gic­al causes, and, espe­cially, in sav­ing both their and our souls. Because we under­stand that to organ­ize polit­ic­ally means not only to think but to care, to trust, and to trans­form indi­vidu­al des­pair into col­lect­ive ima­gin­a­tion, learn­ing, and action. Both off­line and online, our school cre­ates brave spaces where people learn how to turn their per­son­al suf­fer­ings and stor­ies into polit­ic­al struggles and sys­tems of col­lect­ive care, trust, and power.

TENDER Skills & FIERCE Strategies for Collective Care, Trust, & Power

Fight­ing back relent­lessly is becom­ing a mat­ter of sur­viv­al as our souls are wounded and our dreams are silenced day by day. But we know all too well that there will be no easy way out of the cur­rent inhu­mane state of this world, as it is turn­ing its weapons against our per­son­al and col­lect­ive resources and interests. Prac­ti­cing the lost art of organ­iz­ing hope, cour­age, and joy means choos­ing the long road — con­sciously and with com­mit­ment. Togeth­er, it is finally time to make the road and unlearn polit­ic­al hope­less­ness. The SPH is the place where we build the emo­tion­al con­fid­ence to dream, the rela­tion­al cour­age to care, and the cul­tur­al wis­dom to organ­ize.

Let’s »make the road by walk­ing«, as Ant­o­nio Machado wrote in his fam­ous poem!